Marian and I left Big Pine Key, Florida on a Greyhound at 5:40 PM on March 7 and got to our hotel in Miami by 9:30. A fast sleep at the Embassy Suites near the Miami airport then on an 8:35AM Amerian Airlines flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. An uneventful flight, no lines at customs, got our SIM cards switched out, and our rental at the Firefly Car Rental, which seems to be a part of Hertz. We then drove just a few kilometers to the Hotel Monte Campana Heredia where we spent the afternoon and evening. Jean and Alam met us to visit and pick up some Subaru parts we brought for them. I got out the road above the hotel about 3:20 PM for an hour and managed about 20 species, including nice looks at a few familiar species, and one , though no new species for Costa Rica.

We had a nice dinner with Jean and Alan at the resort though vegan options were pretty slim. This morning Marian and I got up early and repeated the walk from the evening prior, with some good finds, including one lifer for me, a new split from Rufous-capped Warbler, Chestnut-capped Warbler. I have to say from my memory it is a duller reddish cap than the Arizona bird Ken and I found a few years ago. Oveerall a pleasant and easy hour or so of morning birding, with as is usual here lots of unidentified songs.

After breakfast we headed for our first planned stop, the Tilajari Hotel Resort, which is about half way from San Jose to Caño Negro where we will make our next multi-day stop. It is a beautiful place, with nice grounds. We set up a bird walk with a guide in the AM, and I’m hoping to find a local guide for the next day for a bigger outing. Dinner here was great, and we stopped at a roadside Soda for lunch.

Pretty tired tonight, so hoping a good sleep makes all new and well.